Media statements archive

It’s all well and good to say that looking after the environment is everyone’s responsibility, but for 20 years now responsibility for a significant amount of Landcare has occurred across Perth because of the Swan Alcoa Landcare Program (SALP).Commencing in 1998, SALP is a joint initiative between Alcoa of Australia, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation Attractions and Perth NRM and has facilitated more than $8.5 million in grants that community groups have used to rejuvenate local waterways and bush areas through more than1350 local projects.

The Conservation and Parks Commission is encouraging people to comment on the Draft mid-term review of performance of the Forest Management Plan 2014-2023. You can view the document and submit comments until 19 October 2018 via the Conservation and Parks Commission website at www.conservation.wa.gov.au.

The calf of an adult dolphin that died last week after being entangled in fishing line in the Swan River has also died. On Monday evening, Parks and Wildlife Service staff from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) retrieved the body of Splash, the 18-month-old female calf of Highnitch, near the Perth Flying Squadron Yacht Club. Splash has now been transported to Murdoch University for assessment and necropsy. DBCA Rivers and Estuaries Principal Scientist Dr Kerry Trayler said both dolphins had been entangled in fishing line, which had contributed to their deaths. “This mother and calf had severe entanglements for several months, with Splash having fishing line wrapped around her tail fluke and Highnitch having line entangled around her tail fluke and dorsal…

Visitors to Ningaloo Marine Park can swim with majestic humpback whales for a third year running, with the new trial season commencing off the Coral Coast. The Minister for Environment has also approved the continuation of the in-water interaction trials for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The move will attract thousands of tourists to visit the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Coast to interact with the massive marine mammals as they make their way north to their Kimberley calving grounds.

Western swamp tortoises have been released into the wild today with special data loggers attached that will help guide recovery efforts for the critically endangered species. The 12 Perth Zoo-bred tortoises were released into Ellen Brook Nature Reserve in Perth's north-eastern suburbs. Data loggers attached to the tortoises will record information about how long they spend in water, the depth of the water they forage in, and the summer-time conditions they experience when they aestivate under leaf litter and in holes during summer. After 12 months, the tortoises will be returned to Perth Zoo. The trial will enable researchers to compare tortoises of similar age, genetics and history to tortoises being released at Meerup in the South-West, and will help guide decisions about possible future…